Russia 'reviewing' legality of Baltic states independence

Moscow (AFP) - Russia's Prosecutor General is reviewing the legality of the independence of the three Baltic countries from the Soviet Union, a spokesman said Tuesday.

The move drew a furious reaction from Lithuania's President Dalia Grybauskaite, who said, "No one has the right to threaten" our independence.

Two lawmakers from the majority United Russia party argued in their appeal to prosecutors that decisions by the State Council of the Soviet Union, which granted independence to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, were illegal.

The lawmakers claimed that the decisions "brought great harm" to the country and should therefore be qualified as "state treason", according to the appeal which is now under review.

The Prosecutor General's office is "reviewing the request by lawmakers in accordance with Russian law," a spokesman told AFP.

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